Contents

History

Background

The Forellis used to be associated with the Leone family, and broke off from them before the events of Vice City for unknown reasons.

1971

Acting under orders from Sonny Forelli, then don of the organization, Forelli Family associate Tommy Vercetti was sent to kill a key mobster in Harwood, Liberty City. However, the conflict escalated, being part of a setup by Sonny. Vercetti killed eleven men in the conflict before being taken into custody. Sonny Forelli was able to reduce Vercetti's sentence to a mere fifteen years through unknown means. Vercetti earned the nickname "The Harwood Butcher" for his part in the affair.

1986

By 1986, the Forelli family were the most powerful Mafia family in Liberty City. In GTA Vice City, the Forellis decided to expand "down south" by establishing relations with local Vice City drug cartels. Tommy Vercetti, fresh out of prison after the Harwood incident, and crooked lawyer Ken Rosenberg were selected by Sonny to conduct a deal with Lance Vance & Victor Vance. This was another setup by Sonny, however, resulting in Victor Vance's death. Vercetti split from the Forellis, taking over the drug trade in Vice City. Angered, Sonny came to Vice City personally to claim Vercetti's profits, which Sonny saw as his by right, and was killed in the conflict. Sonny's brother, Marco Forelli, became the family's new don.

1992

In GTA San Andreas, Caligula's Palace casino in Las Venturas, San Andreas, was split between Forelli, Sindacco, and Leone families. The Families couldn't decide between themselves who should run the casino. Therefore, former Forelli lawyer Ken Rosenberg was put forward as a neutral party. Should any war between the families ignite, Rosenberg would be killed.

While Johnny Sindacco was at the hospital after being traumatized by Carl Johnson acting on orders from the Leones, Marco Forelli decided to take the opportunity to kill Johnny by sending his goons to hijack his ambulance. Rosenberg becomes aware of the hit, and sends Carl Johnson to retrieve Johnny's ambulance before a war is ignited between the families. However, Johnny later dies of a heart attack after seeing Carl again, and Salvatore Leone returns to Las Venturas to reclaim the money that he invested in the casino from Rosenberg. Marco later sends Forelli hitmen to kill Salvatore, who was aware of the hit, and he decides to send Carl to kill the hitmen in their flight before they arrive in Las Venturas. The hit leads to Salvatore to strike back by sending Carl to Liberty City, to kill Marco at Marco's Bistro.

Later on, a war was sparked between the Forellis and the Sindaccos in Fort Staunton, which was caused by the Sicilian Mob, after the Sindaccos had begun invading Forelli territory on Staunton Island. Toni is caught up in it, as Salvatore Leone takes advantage of the war to foil Massimo Torini's plan to take over the city. The war leads to both families to be weakened as upcoming gangs like the Uptown Yardies and the Yakuza take over their territory left behind. The families eventually try to broker a truce, only for Salvatore to use Paulie Sindacco's car to kill the Forellis attending the peace meeting. As the war continues, the Forellis continue to lose territory on Shoreside Vale, after Toni Cipriani and the Southside Hoodstake over the last expanding turf the Forellis have occupation in. The war continues until Paulie Sindacco was killed after trying to flee Liberty City, after his involvement in getting Salvatore jailed.

The Forellis later target the Yakuza, after Kazuki Kasen had taken over most of the territory in Liberty City and began stocking up on powerful weapons such as a tank. The Forellis catch Kazuki's wife Toshiko Kasenattending the Fort Staunton Opera House with Toni Cipriani, and attempt to kill her (not knowing that Toshiko is against her husband's plots). The Forellis are later completely weakened after their main base of operations, Fort Staunton, was destroyed by underground explosives in the old subway main line running through southern Staunton Island. Whether Franco was killed in the explosion is unknown but the family was left devastated.

2001

By 2001, the events of GTA III, they are now named the Forelli Brothers, and the gang now appears to share a very small presence in the city, presumably due to the events of 1998.

Clothing

In GTA Liberty City Stories, Forelli henchmen don blue/dark red shirts with light blue/white jackets over and carry pistols. In GTA III, they are dressed like the Leones as seen in one of Joey Leone's missions, while the dead mobster in the Manana looks like a Leone too, except that he has no gloves. In GTA Vice City, the Forelli's are seen wearing light blue or brown Hawaiian shirts. In GTA San Andreas, the mobsters (presumed to be the Forelli's) either dress in brown jackets, light green shirts with black pants or black jogging suits. In GTA Vice City Stories, the Forelli hitmen seen in a couple of missions wear dark colored shirts with black jackets over.

Trivia

The Forelli Family are the only gang to have appeared in every 3D Universe game, with the exception of Grand Theft Auto Advance (although they may have appeared, as there is only a reference to the Mafia, not a particular family). This makes the Forelli Family the gang to appear in most games in the GTA series.

Sonny Forelli is the only family member who is not killed in Liberty City as he was killed by Tommy Vercetti in Vice City. Mike is killed by Claude and Franco is possibly killed by Toni Cipriani while Marco is killed by Carl Johnson who travelled to Liberty City from Las Venturas.

The Forelli Family is probably the most hated gang in the 3D Universe from the point of view of the protagonists. Claude killed them on Joey and El Burro's orders, Tommy Vercetti betrayed the Forellis, Mike betrayed the Mafia too, Carl Johnson killed some Forellis on Salvatore Leone's orders, Toni Cipriani is a capo of the Leone Family and therefore a natural enemy, and Victor Vance killed some Forelli hitmen.